Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Tag

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer CONCORD, N.C. – A late-race pit call by crew chief Greg Ives followed by a strong drive from Alex Bowman kept the Hendrick Motorsports driver in the Playoffs. In the chaotic run to the finish to the Bank of America ROVAL 400, Bowman bounced in and out of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff bubble until the checkered flag. After avoiding a multi-car pile-up on lap 103, Bowman found himself in fifth. On the restart, his No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was boxedRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – In a race that was as wild as advertised in the closing laps, Ryan Blaney sped past crashing Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. in the final corner to win Sunday’s inaugural Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. With his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season and the second of his career, Blaney advanced to Round of 12 in the Playoffs. Johnson wasn’t as lucky. The seven-time series champion was pressuring TruexRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor CONCORD, N.C. – The 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season started with so much promise for Austin Dillon after winning the Daytona 500, but his hopes of contending for a championship to go along with that triumph came to a screeching halt Sunday on the new Charlotte Motor Speedway road course. Entering the Bank of America ROVAL 400, Dillon had a 10-point advantage over the cut line and just needed a clean weekend to be able to advance on to the second round of theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor CONCORD, N.C. – Final practice seemed to be going exactly as planned for 2012 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski, but things went awry for him just minutes after blazing around Charlotte Motor Speedway with the fastest lap of the session. Keselowski toured around the Charlotte road course with a lap of 1 minute, 17.730 seconds at 105.596 mph, but as the session neared its final moments, the frontstretch chicane became the bane of his existence. The lap looked to be going just fineRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – Kurt Busch and his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford crashed the Chevrolet party at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Friday, winning the pole for a race in which the word “crash” could be commonplace. Running late in the final round, Busch toured the 2.28-mile, 17-corner course in 76.805 seconds (106.868 mph) to edge road course ace AJ Allmendinger (76.846 seconds at 106.811 mph) for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 (2 p.m. ET on NBC,Read More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer CONCORD, N.C. – In qualifying for the Bank of America ROVAL 400, Ryan Blaney avoided the trouble that some of his Playoff Grid rivals encountered. His Team Penske teammate, Brad Keselowski was not as lucky, breaking the power-steering pump after hitting one of the blue ‘turtle’ curbs at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. Compared to the first round of qualifying, the second round was tame. Blaney ended up ninth on the starting grid, running a 105.919 mph, 1:17.493 second lap. He was the seventh-fastestRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor CONCORD, N.C. – Denny Hamlin already had his work cut out for him heading into the inaugural Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but after the first day on the 2.28-mile, 17-turn road course, he and the No. 11 team have a challenging road ahead if they are to transfer on to the next round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. After two poor performances in the first two races of the postseason, Hamlin enters Charlotte with a 28-point deficit toRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer CONCORD, N.C. – In NASCAR’s first race weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course, everything is coming full circle for road course ringer Justin Marks. Prior to the start of the race weekend, the Rocklin, CA native tweeted that he will be stepping away from NASCAR competition following the completion of the Bank of America ROVAL 400 on Sunday, Sept. 30. “It’s just run its course,” Marks said. “Honestly, I have pretty lofty ambitions on the business side, have some projects that I’m workingRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor CONCORD, N.C. – After making his presence known every step up the NASCAR ladder, Daniel Hemric is finally getting his shot at the big time as Richard Childress Racing officially announced him as the new driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet starting in 2019. “So many people want to have this opportunity and they work their whole lives for it,” said Hemric. “Going through this process, everybody who’s followed my career from racing the Bojangles’ Summer Shootout at Charlotte to super late models, whatever it was,Read More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer CONCORD, N.C. – Veteran Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers like Clint Bowyer have just one takeaway from Watkins Glen International (WGI) and Sonoma Raceway for the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. The 2.28-mile oval-road course hybrid is virtually impossible to compare to NASCAR’s traditional road course events. As Bowyer and his No. 14 Mobil 1 / Advance Auto Parts Ford Fusion team enter the Bank of America ROVAL 400, his experience in road course racing will be put to the test. In 26 PremierRead More